Order your copy today!
|
Your Dog is Speaking. Are you Listening?
Rachel Flatley, owner of Pawsitively Fun Dog Training Group
All dogs speak to us. Few humans take the time to learn how to listen.
We've all encountered the over-the-top dog at the dog park or at doggie play gatherings.
As our dog lies pinned under the paw of Romeo or is constantly being chased and humped by Gadget,
we are supposed to take comfort in the words of the owner of the other dog, "That's how he always plays."
I like to believe that people are ignorant, rather than self-centered and uncaring about how their actions make
others feel. Yet, when I try to explain nicely that their dog's behavior is not indicative of play, my experience
has mostly been that, as much in denial as parents may be that their human child has undesireable behaviors, they are
ten times worse when it comes to being protective of their dogs and refusing to acknowlede anything about their dog
which might be interpreted as an imperfection. Therefore, as soon as I get enough money together, I am opening the
"My Dog Always Plays Like That" dog park so that those folks have a special place to go and can stay away from the
dogs who enjoy owners who have educated themselves about dog body language.
Also disappointing to me, although certainly more understandable, is the person who doesn't understand what their
dog is communicating to them and incorrectly interprets a response from their dog (which would be appropriate in the
dog world) and corrects the dog. An example would be a lesson I did with a person who was teaching their dog to "come".
The person was angry because when called, the dog would not come directly to the handler. The dog was described as "defiant".
When I asked the owner to explain what behavior the dog exhibited which caused it to earn the label of "defiant", I was told
that it came slowly, sniffed on the way in, and came in an arc, rather than a direct line, to the owner. The owner explained,
"I have even raised my voice to sound more authoritative and, if you can believe it, this dog flips me the dew claw and comes
more slowly, sniffs more, and the arc gets larger."
I explained that this dog was not being defiant but was, in fact, appreciating that the owner was getting angry and the dog
was doing everything in its power to calm the owner down. In the dog world, approaching another dog slowly and indirectly
(in an arc) is a very non-confrontational way to approach. The dog couldn't help it that the owner didn't know how to speak
dog and that the dog's efforts were misinterpreted by the owner as defiance and were actually having the opposite effect of
what the dog intended. When the owner tried to solve the problem by using a more stern and louder voice, the dog correctly
interpreted those signals to mean that the stress level was increasing, perhaps even getting to the point that the owner was
borderline explosive. This caused the dog to only work harder to diffuse the owner's stress level and to try and act in an even
less confrontational way by coming in more slowly and in a less direct path. A cycle was created which only resulted in increased
frustration for both the dog and the human and placed unnecessary stress on the relationship.
After seeing the light, the owner explained that prior to speaking with me, they had viewed their dog much like their teenage child.
When told to clean their room, this teenager would stop and watch TV on the way to their room or find other detours to take in order to
avoid cleaning their room. This is true of so many of the people I work with. Most people interpret their dog's behavior by attributing
human responses to their dog. This leads to miscommunication, conflict and frustration on both sides. It is up to dog owners who really
care about having a quality relationship with their pet, to learn about dog body language and ettiquet in the dog world.
If you want to start understanding things like the fact that yawning is not indicative of your dog being tired, but instead means that your
dog is being stressed, I would recommend you become familiar with Turid Rugaas.
Her website is http://www.canis.no/rugaas/index.php.
She has multiple sources of information, including free articles on the website and a DVD on understanding "calming signals" and dog body
language. Taking the time to learn about her observations regarding dog behavior will improve your relationship with your dog and for those
of you attempting to teach your dog some behaviors, her analysis will help you to train those behaviors while minimizing the stress
to both you and your dog.
You may also like to read....
Are You a Vending Machine or a Slot Machine?
Criteria and Consistency
|
